A Urinary Metabolomic Signature Associated with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth in Children with Short Bowel Syndrome

A urinary organic-acid metabolomic profile is associated with clinically defined small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in 21 of 94 children with short bowel syndrome.

• Why it matters: Direct small-intestinal microbiome sampling is difficult, so a noninvasive readout of microbial functional activity is needed in this pediatric condition.
• What they did: Using clinically available gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, urinary organic acids were profiled and compared between children with SIBO (n=21) and without SIBO (n=73), with pathway mapping and multivariable adjustment.
• The result: SIBO-enriched metabolites included microbial fermentation products and aromatic amino-acid metabolism intermediates, with associations persisting after adjustment, supporting urinary metabolomics for noninvasive SIBO evaluation.

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